Really nice pizza stone?
- Thread starter swinchen
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mudbug
Chef Extraordinaire
Buy an uncoated tile at the hardware store. Cheaper and works just as well.
Another alternative would be fire brick - the stuff they line fireplaces with and use to make brick ovens. It is generally 9" x 4.5" by 2"-2.5" thick.
unglazed quarry tiles. Cheap and you can put like 4 of them in your oven on the bottom rack.
Some Home Depot stores carry them ... also check in your phonebook under "brick" and call around. Some places call this firebrick, some call it kiln brick. It'll take forever to heat up .. and forever to cool down (kind of like cast iron) but it's relatively cheap and as good as those oven inserts that cost 10 times as much.
Oh - no - the cement blocks/slabs are NOT the same ....
Oh - no - the cement blocks/slabs are NOT the same ....
scott123
Senior Cook
I'm big on DIY, less expensive solutions, but unglazed quarry tiles are a bit of a gamble. Because they aren't made for the thermal shock of baking bread/pizza, there is a small possibility they can chip. If one of these chips/shards get's into your bread/pizza crust and you or a guest bites into it, it will chip your tooth. Believe me, I know.
It's better to use materials specifically engineered for the shock of baking - a baking stone or fire brick. I went with fire brick because it was a LOT cheaper and the thermal mass was gargantuan.
Swinchen, one thing to be aware of with fire brick is that it is HEAVY. I was able to find 12 x 12 x 2 fire tiles that I cut to fit my oven. The oven shelf was a bit iffy with the weight, though. I ended up going to a ceramic supplier and buying kiln supports to prop up the bottom shelf.
Remember too, that you'll want 1" clearance on all sides for proper air flow.
If you really want to go crazy reproducing pizzeria style pizza at home, get quarry tiles to create a ceiling on the shelf about 10" above your hearth. That's all you need. A nice thick fire brick hearth, a thick tile ceiling and about an hour preheat at 600. Combine that with a mozzerella/parm, sauce, high protein, lean dough - pulled thin and you've got quintessential NY style pizza.
It's better to use materials specifically engineered for the shock of baking - a baking stone or fire brick. I went with fire brick because it was a LOT cheaper and the thermal mass was gargantuan.
Swinchen, one thing to be aware of with fire brick is that it is HEAVY. I was able to find 12 x 12 x 2 fire tiles that I cut to fit my oven. The oven shelf was a bit iffy with the weight, though. I ended up going to a ceramic supplier and buying kiln supports to prop up the bottom shelf.
Remember too, that you'll want 1" clearance on all sides for proper air flow.
If you really want to go crazy reproducing pizzeria style pizza at home, get quarry tiles to create a ceiling on the shelf about 10" above your hearth. That's all you need. A nice thick fire brick hearth, a thick tile ceiling and about an hour preheat at 600. Combine that with a mozzerella/parm, sauce, high protein, lean dough - pulled thin and you've got quintessential NY style pizza.
scott123
Senior Cook
As far as I know, the majority of unglazed quarry tiles are made with non toxic materials. The manufacturer of the tile in question should be able to tell you what it's made out of.
I think that toxicity is much less of an issue than the potential for chips/shards. Not that chipping is all that likely. The majority of people you speak to have no problem with unglazed quarry tiles. I get the feeling maybe 1 out of 50 people have unglazed quarry tiles crack. The number of people that have actually chipped a tooth on a shard is probably less than 1 in 10,000. The price of tiles is around $5 and the price of fire brick is about $10. The extra $5 is definitely worth the additional piece of mind. At least for me it is. I would never forgive myself if someone chipped a tooth because I went with a $5 solution rather than a $10 one.
I know I'm being more than a little repetitive about this. I think, though, that the potential hazards of quarry tiles can't be stressed enough.
I think that toxicity is much less of an issue than the potential for chips/shards. Not that chipping is all that likely. The majority of people you speak to have no problem with unglazed quarry tiles. I get the feeling maybe 1 out of 50 people have unglazed quarry tiles crack. The number of people that have actually chipped a tooth on a shard is probably less than 1 in 10,000. The price of tiles is around $5 and the price of fire brick is about $10. The extra $5 is definitely worth the additional piece of mind. At least for me it is. I would never forgive myself if someone chipped a tooth because I went with a $5 solution rather than a $10 one.
I know I'm being more than a little repetitive about this. I think, though, that the potential hazards of quarry tiles can't be stressed enough.
Ditto what Scott said.
Unglazed tile isn't nearly as likely to be toxic as glazed tile (the glaze is what can contain high levels of lead). But, tile is more brittle and thus more pron to chipping and breaking than firebrick or a pizza stone. Firebrick and pizza stones are made of essentially the same materials.
You can get a pizza stone for about $15 ... it's thinner than the brick, get's just as hot, and takes a lot less time to come up to temp.
Unglazed tile isn't nearly as likely to be toxic as glazed tile (the glaze is what can contain high levels of lead). But, tile is more brittle and thus more pron to chipping and breaking than firebrick or a pizza stone. Firebrick and pizza stones are made of essentially the same materials.
You can get a pizza stone for about $15 ... it's thinner than the brick, get's just as hot, and takes a lot less time to come up to temp.
siniquezu said:
It doesn't matter what size the bricks are, 9x5 or 8x5 or any variation around that - the thing that is going to make a difference in the end is the total mass (sum of length x width x thickness). The greater the mass the longer it will take to come to a stable temperature. Fire brick, kiln brick, pizza stones are all made of basically the same material. They are all made from a composite clay that can stand high empts without cracking due to the thermodynamics of the materials and get just formed into different shapes and sizes.
If you really want to line your oven with bricks, the small space between the bricks shouldn't really matter.
Some people get all crazy over this "brick oven" thing ... which you're really not going to reproduce in a home oven - because that's not really how a brick oven works. And, home ovens can't generate the heat (about 900-F). The brick ovens take about 24-36 hours to come up to temp - that's why even on their day off they (bakers) keep the ovens fired up.
Do yourself a favor if you're going to use it in an oven - go to WalMart or someplace similar and get a 1/2-inch thick pizza stone for about $15. It heats up in about 1/2 hour and I've made French bread that comes mighty close to what a bakery down the street using a gas fired brick oven produces.
scott123
Senior Cook
Michael in FtW said:
I agree, a brick oven can't be duplicated in a home oven, but a Vulcan style pizzeria oven can. That's where you need the thermal mass. And yes, it takes a long time for 2" brick to preheat (1 hr.+) but if you're a pizza fanatic like myself, it's an hour well spent.
For bread, definitely walmart. For authentic pizzeria style pizza, then go with thick firebrick.
Siniquezu, if pizza is your thing, open up your yellow pages to 'brick' and then start calling places. Someone will have half size bricks (about 1" thick rather than 2"). The 1" brick won't have the same thermal mass but at the same time, it'll be much less of a headache to set up. Most oven shelves have a hard time supporting 2" worth of brick. 1" should be no problem. As far as the cracks between the bricks, those should be no problem either. As long as the bricks don't move around when you deliver the pizza. I know 2" brick doesn't shift/slide. 1" shouldn't slide either.
spaZDaisE04
Assistant Cook
really nice pizza stone
pampered chef has an awesome round stone. i use it like crazy to make my pizzas and when it comes out its very crispy and i love it. i totally recommend that or any other product by them
pampered chef has an awesome round stone. i use it like crazy to make my pizzas and when it comes out its very crispy and i love it. i totally recommend that or any other product by them
subfuscpersona
Sous Chef
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2004
- Messages
- 561
I recently posted similar question on this forum and got good advice - see http://discusscooking.com/viewtopic.php?t=5319
My original post had links to 2 sources if you decide against the DIY route
My original post had links to 2 sources if you decide against the DIY route
dcrockett46
Assistant Cook
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2004
- Messages
- 3
I received a pizza stone for a present and was wanting to know if i could us it as a hot cooking stone like a Rackette stone but without having to buy the grill. Can you heat it up in the oven enough to cook fook at the table? Also what other suggestions does anyone have to use as a cheap replacement for a raclette hot stone? I went to a Melting Pot restruant and had a wonderful meal on their hot stone they brought to the table. thanks
